TRIAL OF DANE DENNIS CHRISTENSEN BEGINS IN OREL
Orlovskie Novosti, 3 April 2018
In the Zheleznodorozhny district court on 3 April, a preliminary session in the criminal case against Danish citizen Dennis Christensen, who is accused of planning the continuation of the activity of an extremist organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in Orel that is banned in Russia, was held.
The case is being heard by judge Aleksei Rudnev. As an Orlovskie Novosti correspondent reports, several dozen supporters of Christensen arrived for the preliminary hearing. However the session was postponed because of a petition presented by the Dane in which he asked the court to give him additional time for familiarizing himself with the materials of the case.
"I need time in order to acquaint myself with the video files, audio files, photographs, and also books and brochures," Christensen requested. The court granted the petition in part and gave the defendant another week.
Dennis Christensen was arrested 26 May 2017. Since then he has been detained in a SIZO. Before the arrest, the F.S.B. and police conducted searches in the home where local adherents of the organization of Jehovah's Witnesses, which is banned in Russia, gathered. Security personnel reported that during searches, extremist literature was seized. In addition, the security agency noted, testimony of witnesses was received about the participation of the Dane in a crime of an extremist nature.
In July 2017, the rights advocacy organization
Memorial
recognized Christensen as a political prisoner. (tr. by PDS,
posted 3 April
2018)
UP TO 10 YEARS OF JAIL THREATEN JEHOVAH'S WITNESS FROM DENMARK
In the Russian city of Orel, on 3 April will begin a judicial process against 46-year-old citizen of Denmark and adherent of the religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses Dennis Christensen, who has already been held in custody more than ten months. If Christensen is charged with "arranging the activity of a religious organization which has been declared to be extremist," he is threatened with up to ten years incarceration.
"The Russian government is trying to punish Jehovah's Witnesses for their exercise of the right to practice their religion," the deputy directory of the international rights advocacy organization Human Rights Watch for Europe and Central Asia, Rachel Denber, declared on 2 April. Rights advocates are urging Russian authorities to remove the accusation from Christensen and to put an end to the "ruthless persecution" of the religious group.
Dennis Christensen was arrested on 25 May 2017 during a police raid upon a worship service of Jehovists in the Russian city of Orel.
Russian authorities have long viewed Jehovah's Witnesses with suspicion because of their position on military service, voting, and state authority as a whole.
Freedom of religious confession is formally guaranteed in Russia, but legislation views Christianity in its Orthodox version, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism as the four traditional religions of the country, and small confessions are confronted with discrimination.
In April 2017, the Russian Supreme Court called the Jehovah's Witnesses an "extremist organization." Since then there have appeared reports from devotees of this religious organization whom the authorities are pursuing. (tr. by PDS, posted 4 April 2018)
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